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Wednesday, 2 July 2014

Flour & Stone, Woolloomooloo - Sydney

Great place, great service, AMAZING food. I'll describe to you how Flour & Stone climbs its way to the highest place in my heart just with a bite of their cake.

Having had an underwhelming and grandiose lunch before, we sighed with relief upon seeing this small, friendly-looking spot.

'Now this is more like my place', I remarked, followed by an excited nod by the awesome food blogger slash my dining date for the day.

Flour & Stone is an unassuming bakery on a quiet street at the first glance. Peeking closer, it has chic design that isn't overdone, radiating welcoming and comforting ambiance on your first step inside the tiny place. But don't be fooled, it may be tiny but the popularity is definitely the opposite of the place's size.

Flour & Stone signage

We were lucky to visit at a quiet hour, usually the place is buzzing with locals grabbing their cups of coffee, enjoying their lunch, and/or doing a dessert run.

Interior

Menu

Don't spend too much time ogling the menu, instead look around and be amazed by the goodies and cakes on display. Iced gingerbread cookies are showcased in different shapes and colours, emphasizing the skills of Nadine Ingram, the owner of this superb cafe a.k.a. the founder of Cookie Couture.

Our drinks came out first, and I had the tangy and refreshing orange juice while Sihan, being a proper adult/foodie that she is, had latte that she gave an acceptingnod to.

Freshly squeezed orange juice - $5

Latte - $3.5 (?)

Deciding which cake to try was incredibly tough. The virtuous-looking old-fashioned vanilla cake won as the final decision; a tall stack of three layers of moist and crumbly vanilla cake with slathers of enchanting vanilla cream and berry jam (with some actual berries in it too).

A bite will make you pause and realize that life is good. So good. One of the best cakes I have eaten so far in my life. I can't say even the slightest negative point about this slice of excellence.

Old fashioned vanilla cake - $5.5

Canelé is a small French pastry, involving baked custard innards with thick caramelized jacket. After looking at many pics of this cuteness in Instagram, I went to a super excited mode in scoring the last canelé of the day. The crust was indeed thick and, to my surprise, hard. Apparently the secret lies on the brushing of the tins with bees wax before baking. Break through the shell with your teeth, not with a knife, and you'll get your reward. The center was soft, chewy, and creamy, with the perfect level of sweetness and a hint of citrus. The innards's texture kinda reminded me of a fav Indonesian cake/snack of mine, bika ambon.

Canelé - $5

Canelé innards

Even a person with the strongest willpower will grow weak at the knees when faced with Flour & Stone's picture-perfect and drool-worthy creations, let alone a weak one like mine.

But really, would anyone say no to this wonderful chocolate, raspberry, and buttermilk flourless cake?

This chocolate wheel tasted a hundred times better than it looked. It was delightfully rich and incredibly moist, spotted generously with piquant raspberries. Another cake I can't say a bad word of.

Chocolate, raspberry, and buttermilk flourless cake - $5.5

Innards

Another solo visit during the dreaded exam time saw me having one of those sandwiches.

Sandwiches army

Turned out they are not only really good at sweet treats, the savoury items also sparkle with awesomeness. This ham, gruyere, and grain mustard aioli was a perfect pick-me-up, with crispy toasted bread which still have fluffy interior with layers of tasty ham and stretchy cheese.

Ham, gruyere, and grain mustard aioli - $10

By now the whole Sydney has probably heard, or even tasted, the legendary pannacotta lamington. It is very likely to be the most famous lamington in town, and I won't even consider to disagree. The lamington cake is poked and poured over with pannacotta mix, resulting in super moist cake filled with tangy berry jam in between, enveloped with chocolate and shredded coconut.

I may not have tried many lamingtons in my life, but this one is the BEST so far, that's no doubt. And yes, I need to use the capslock. It is that good.

Pannacotta lamington

Pannacotta lamington innards

Now, what should I try next? The fine apple pie, hazelnut torte, or the berry doughnut?

One thing for sure, countless visits to this little yet wonderful place is already on my calendar. Flour & Stone, I love you.

I'm an absolute sucker for canelés, but I prefer the smaller one as I'm more into the hard crusty cover than the chewy innards, and find the bigger ones to be a bit too chewy for my liking! You don't have to use bee wax and double the amount of butter for canelés if you use silicon molds, but the downside is that the mini canelés moulds are super hard to properly wash!

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Obsessed to food, hoping to share my culinary adventure.
"Irene's Getting Fat!" is a Jakarta - Sydney food blog, and actually a portfolio, it is mostly about food, but also includes travel logs and lifestyle. Visit the 'About' page for more info!

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The reviews posted on 'Irene's Getting Fat!' are personal opinions, and Irene does not receive or solicit any payment for restaurant reviews. The images and texts credit belongs to Irene, unless otherwise noted. If you wish to use any images or texts in this blog, please contact me at irenechristiana[at]yahoo[dot]com[dot]au, or simply link back to this blog.